How to Make Your Emails Mobile-Friendly

by aschmidt

According to email campaign software firm Litmus, mobile email access has increased by over 500% in only a four-year span (since 2010), and more than 50% of all email is now opened and viewed on some type of mobile device. The implications of these staggering data points are clear–the email marketing you’re doing need to be mobile-friendly. So how exactly do you do that? Below are seven simple tips you can put into practice right now to ensure that your emails will be compatible with all kinds of mobile devices.

1. Limit your subject line to 40 characters or less.

With smaller screens comes less space for characters, and although there are some email clients that will display all of the text in your subject line, there are just as many that don’t. For this reason, it’s a good idea to limit your subject line to 40 characters or less. If it seems nearly impossible to shorten your text any further without it turning into something very awkward, try putting the most important words or phrases at the beginning of your subject line, so users will still be able to get a good feel for what your email is about even they can’t see the whole subject.

2. Keep your content and design as concise as possible.

The email format generally doesn’t favor long-winded text anyway, but this especially holds true when it comes to mobile displays. Focus only on the key essentials of your message, and try to keep your design as clean and clutter-free as possible.

3. Single-column templates are your best friend.

Mobile browsers can vary greatly in terms of their ability to correctly decipher and display multi-column layouts, which can lead to a lot of unnecessary scrolling and zooming, diminishing user experience. Use a single-column template to ensure that your content will be adaptable and flexible enough to accommodate a wide variety of screen sizes.

4. Stick to an email template width of 600 pixels or less.

Your best bet to ensure compatibility across the widest range of devices is to keep your total email template width at or below 600 pixels. You can typically make this adjustment by editing the dimensional settings for your email template, but you can also try the “width” property in your template’s CSS code.

5. Use images sparingly, and keep them small and/or low-resolution.

Downloading images on a mobile device can be a drag, so if you want your images to load quickly and correctly, stick with the small and/or lower-resolution variety. In addition, don’t forget that many mobile devices (ahem, Android) turn images off by default, which can really jumble up the format of your email if you’re using multiple images. For this reason, it’s better to use just one or possibly two well-selected images, and make sure that they’re not too large or high-resolution to load quickly on a mobile device.

6. Keep your font sizes large.

A 10 point font has no place in the world of mobile email; simply put, it’s too small. You want to make sure that your text is easy to read on smaller screens, so that no one will get a migraine from straining their eyes at microscopic text. Shoot for a minimum of 14 point font for the body text, and 22 point font for headlines.

7. Contrasting colors are good.

Never choose form over function when it comes to your color choices; make sure that you’re choosing colors that adequately contrast each other to improve readability. For example, grey text on a black background is not a good idea for an eye-friendly email format, especially on a mobile screen. Your best bet is to stick with classic color contrasts, such as dark text on a light background. Bear in mind that many people will be reading your emails on the go, which means that they may be outside in the blaring sunlight when they open your message; make it easy on them by choosing color combinations that are easy on the eyes.

We can help you make sure your email marketing is mobile friendly – and more!